by Jerome Kelly
Melina had given him a quick warning about the speed at which Andurian pregnancies progressed and how mood swings were very common even at this early stage but James was still slightly taken aback by Isha’s tone. The next nine months were certainly going to be interesting and he would have to be extra careful to stay on her good side.
Arriving back at the bridge, everyone was already gathered, with the exception of Saavoy, and were ready for action. A few of them had a glance or two towards his swollen eye.
“That’s a great look for you James,” Ansare chuckled, “you should try it more often.”
“Yeah, Ok guys, laugh it off,” James said as he took his seat in the captain’s chair, “Isha said the fleet has dropped out of warp and made camp early, what’s going on?”
“We’ve been tracking the fleet’s movements through their warp trails,” said Ivanov, “from the communications that Iyacs was able to intercept, the fleet was supposed to travel to a destination at least six hours further out than the one at which they stopped.”
“Any sign that they were attacked?”
“No sir, not as far as we can tell,” said Elena, “there have been no distress calls and no unusual communications in either direction.”
“Then it looks like we’ve arrived in time,” said James, “Ok then helmsman, prepare to bring us out of warp. Lets see what the admirals in charge of the fleet have to say for themselves.”
Daniels dropped the ship out of warp. They had arrived once more in the depths of the Blue Ring sector, only this time they were not alone. There was a mass of alliance ships in the distance, formed up in battle positions as if waiting to receive an Al’cari attack at any moment. Given their location, it was not an unlikely occurrence.
“Do you think they’re willing to talk?” Kalmar asked, “if the head of the alliance council was trying to stop you interfering, surely he passed word on to the fleet about us following them out here.”
“Regardless of what Artennes said, Marek is an old friend and he can be trusted,” James assured him, “Ok, Stevens, hail the Suran command ship. Lets see if we can talk the fleet down and get them out of here before the Al’cari show up on the scene.”
The Evening Star approached the alliance fleet at a steady pace, not wanting to provoke anyone into assuming hostility. James assumed that Artennes had warned them that he might try to interfere and that they should not let him disrupt the operation. Regardless, they pulled up alongside the Suran command ship, the Vizastador, and opened hailing frequencies. If Juarez was going to be anywhere in the fleet it was here. Just as he had assumed, once the view-screen came to life, he found himself face to face with his former crew member.
“Captain Tavarez, this is an unexpected surprise,” said Juarez, “it’s good to see you again although I wish it were under better circumstances.”
“So do I, general,” said James, “although I must say, you’ve done pretty well for yourself these past years. Hand picked by the council to lead this attack. You must be honoured.”
“I am indeed, James, it’s a great honour,” Juarez said proudly, “but what of you? The council ordered that you were to stay behind and take no part in this mission. You’re risking a great deal by going against the council’s wishes.”
“My insurrection is necessary on this occasion,” said James, “Artennes has no idea what he is sending you into out here but we do. Myself and my crew are the only ones to have gone up against the Al’cari and lived to tell the tale, therefore we are the only ones who know how to fight them. Let’s be honest here, you need us out here with you.”
“Well I wont deny we could certainly use any intel you have,” Juarez agreed, “I also agree that Artennes acted fairly rashly in sending us out here but after hearing what these Al’cari can do, they need to be stopped before we lose any more good people.”
“I guess we’re not going to talk you down then,” James sighed, “if we’re going to go ahead with this attack then we need to be well prepared. I’m forwarding all relevant data we have on the Al’cari, including technical readouts of their ships. You’ll need to have the tactical officers on all of your ships review them with all haste if you want them to be able to plan efficiently.”
“Thank you captain,” said Juarez, “this information will aid us greatly. In the meantime we should…”
Juarez was distracted by a call from one of his communication officers, there were alarms going on both the Evening Star and the Suran command ship.
“General Juarez, we have incoming,” he warned, “long range sensors are showing one Al’cari ship on a direct course to our location, thirty minutes out.”
“All units, prepare for battle,” Juarez ordered, “all ships are to go to red alert. Form up the fleet and prepare for assault. Get me the other admirals on the comm so we can organise our force.”
Juarez kept James on the line but they were now connected with admirals Raviano and Valentina, along with the Vulian executor Kyrakian.
“Captain Tavarez, I see that you have seen fit to join the party against the wishes of lord Artennes,” the Voronian admiral Raviano said to him, “you have a nerve though, I will certainly give you that much. Not many would risk their career in such a way.”
“There is more than my career at stake here admiral,” James pointed out, “I’m acting to help save the people of this alliance. You need me here admiral.”
“Indeed…” he replied indignantly, “. . . well lets just hope you know what you’re doing.”
It could have been worse, at least the rest of the commanding officers were at least willing to listen to him. It would have been a huge mistake on their part to ignore what he had to say. James returned to his chair and sat in thought for a moment. They had a large and powerful fleet at their command but the enemy ship would still cause them massive casualties as soon as it was in range. They needed a plan, a solid plan that would allow them to take this monster down with minimum fuss and minimal casualties. He did have one plan though, something that had occurred to him from his earlier reading. It would be a long shot though.
“Mr Ivanov…” he began, “. . . did you ever read Karlov and Romanov’s edition of The Military History of the Freedom Alliance?”
“Yes sir,” Ivanov replied, “I studied the early history of the alliance as part of my academy research. I won a commendation for my work on the first battles of the Tolian alliance and… have you been reading my academy work?”
“Never mind that for now,” James quickly changed the subject, “chapter six, part two, the Maelstrom-Helix formation, you know it right?”
“Yes, it was the formation admiral Zalikev of the Tolian fleet used to defeat the Vulian forces in the first war two hundred years ago, a combination of trapping tactics and quick hit-and-run strikes if I remember correctly.”
“Hey I’ve heard of this one before,” Julio piped up in the background, “I read about it a year or two ago when I was doing my own research proposal at Lorridan academy. The maelstrom-helix is supposed to be an absolute death-trap for both sides. When it’s pulled off successfully it’s almost unbeatable but if you get it even slightly wrong, it can backfire on you horribly. Only one admiral ever pulled it off successfully and that was admiral Zalikev. Using it here would be insane… but pretty cool at the same time.”
“It was specifically designed for this type of encounter though,” said James, “the formation was designed to trap a heavily outnumbered enemy and finish them off using hard-to-counter tactics. There is only one Al’cari vessel inbound, if we trap it with this formation, it gives us a real chance of taking it down and reducing casualties in the process.”
“It’s very risky,” said Ansare, “most of the captains in this fleet will never have attempted a move like this before, I doubt many of them will even have heard of this formation before today. What makes you think we can organise it in under half an hour?”
“I have a plan for that too,” said James, “Iyacs, upload the Alliance in Chaos simulation game to Mr Ivanov’s tactical console and create a virtual battlefield using our current fleet versus one Al’cari battlecruiser. Upload the formation, maelstrom-helix and deploy the forces accordingly.”
“I will attempt to do so now,” said Iyacs, “give me a couple of seconds and I will provide the readout for you.”
James, Ivanov, Kalmar, Ansare and Julio all gathered around the tactical console as Iyacs provided the readout that James had requested. He had to admit, it looked good, it was just a case of whether or not they could pull it off in the short time that they had before the Al’cari arrived.
“It looks risky,” said Kalmar, “using an untried tactic against an enemy like this could have pretty dire consequences if it goes wrong. Do you think we can get the fleet into position in time?”
“It has to be worth a shot,” said James, “if we go head to head with this thing it will inflict heavy losses on our fleet. If we at least try to adapt these tactics, we are still placing the vast majority of our fleet right at the edge of it’s weapons range. Even if we don’t get it totally right, it still reduces the number of casualties we take as a whole.”
“I suppose that is one way to look at it,” said Ansare, “and I guess that if we can organise the fleet into the correct positions in time then we could at least trap the Al’cari ship and keep it surrounded and under continuous fire.”
“It’s the best plan we have,” said James, turning back to the view-screen, “Marek, are you hearing all of this?”
“Loud and clear, captain Tavarez,” Juarez replied, “the maelstrom-helix, huh? Thats a bold tactic but after seeing you in the revolution it doesn’t surprise me one bit. Would you allow myself and my combat analysts to look over the data?”
“I’ll have Iyacs send the plans over to you now,” said James, “tell me what you think.”
Juarez and his team, as well as the other admirals who were also on the same channel, took a minute or two to look over the plans. Ideally they would have needed a much longer period of time to go over the formation and set up a battle plan to incorporate them but as it was, they had very little time to prepare for the incoming Al’cari ship.
“It’s a risky tactic but I think we can pull this off if we get it right,” said Juarez, “your AI really seems to know what its doing. Most of the pilots in the fleet will not have seen this kind of strategy before though so we have no idea how they will be able to handle it.”
“I have studied this formation, general, I think I can make it work,” James said confidently, “I know it wont be easy but I know I can do this.”
“Then I’ll leave it up to you,” said Juarez, “James, take control of the fleet and do whatever it is that you have to do.”
“Hang on just a minute…” the Voronian admiral Raviano butted in, “. . . you are not seriously going to allow captain Tavarez to assume command of the fleet and lead this attack himself using untested strategies and a very risky battle plan, are you?”
“Admiral, if you have a better idea, now is the time to put it on the table,” Juarez contested, “Tavarez has a plan, its the best one we have by a long shot and after seeing him in action first hand in the past, I have confidence in his abilities.”
“I too have my doubts about this course of action,” the Vulian executor Kyrakian added his thoughts to the discussion, “a concentrated bombardment using the full power of our battlecruisers can overwhelm the shields on this ship and bring it down far more quickly. Yes, there would be losses but not as many as we would suffer if this plan goes awry.”
“I can do this,” James said, maintaining his air of confidence in front of the alliance and Vulian leaders, “Iyacs knows what it is doing and so do I. I promise you, I can pull this off.”
“I concur,” the Churian admiral, Valentina, added, “general Ravenn has told me great things about young captain Tavarez’s skill in battle as well as his abilities to lead. I vote in favour of his plan and to award him command of the fleet in this battle.”
“I second this,” said Juarez, “if anyone can pull this off, I know captain Tavarez can.”
“As an admiral of the freedom alliance, I also give my vote of support for captain Tavarez to assume control of the fleet,” said Ansare.
“As do I!” Came the call of support from a rejuvenated Kasha Saavoy, back on the bridge for the first time since before they had left for the surface of Sharstrom. “What? You didn’t think I was going miss out on this did you?” He asked, everyone’s attention drawn to his sudden reappearance and his new cheery nature, “anyway, I’m an admiral too so I guess I get a vote in this and I say give James command of the fleet and let him work his magic.”
“I don’t suppose we have much of a choice then,” Raviano sighed, “captain Tavarez, know that if this plan falls through and people die because of it, every one of those lives will be on your hands.”
“I understand, admiral,” said James, “I know what is at risk here but I would not be asking this of you if I didn’t think I could handle it.”
This had all gone a lot better than he had expected. Best case scenario would have been to turn the fleet around and get them back to Tolis and out of harms way but this was the next best thing. With Kalmar’s experience of fighting the Al’cari and the expertise of Iyacs, James had everything he needed to co-ordinate the attack. With the intel passed on to Juarez and the other admirals, the fleet began to move into position, forming up into this unusual and little-known battle formation.
“Guys, I’m confused…” Kosare began, “. . . how exactly does this formation work and why does everyone keep saying its an absolute death-trap?”
“It’s a trapping technique,” said Saavoy, “it’s one I’ve always wanted to see used in action because when it’s used correctly, it can be near unbeatable in a situation where you hold the greater numbers in a conflict. The battlecruisers will create a perimeter around the Al’cari ship, moving in a continuous circle in and out of range of it’s weapons, trapping it in one place, just like a maelstrom. As they do, the smaller flyers and frigates will launch a series of hit and run strikes across the Al’cari vessel, retreating out of range should they be damaged and allowing more to take their place as they do. It’s incredibly effective in use but it’s also incredibly difficult to successfully pull off.”
“Iyacs has organised each fleet into it’s own role in the conflict,” said James, drawing their attention to the tactical console once more, “we’ll place the Suran, Voronian, Churian and Tolian warships to form the main portion of the maelstrom part of the formation. These ships will move in and out of range of the Al’cari ship a few at a time, striking quickly then retreating back out of range. The Juyoans, Naisans, Comerans and the Andurians will form the outer section of the maelstrom, moving in to replace any ship that becomes damaged and has to pull out of the formation. Outside of this, we’ll place the Vulian fleet behind the Al’cari ship, cutting off it’s escape. They will move in from the rear to complete the trap around the Al’cari vessel and push it into the maelstrom. Once it becomes trapped, we will divide the smaller and faster vessels into several groups and they will then launch a series of quick hit and run strikes from all angles of the battlefield, catching the Al’cari in their blind spots and moving into positions out of their weapons range.”
“Its really not that complicated if you ask me,” said Saavoy, “as long as we time the hit-and-run strikes effectively and we keep the ships in formation, we really have nothing to worry about.”
It wasn’t going to be easy by any stretch of the imagination though. They were not fighting any enemy that any of these people had ever seen the likes of before. James had experience of commanding ships in battle but this was no revolutionary fleet made up of fleeing rebels, outcasts and defectors, this was the combined force of many of the best th
at the alliance had to offer, each one of them trained for battle and each one of their ships battle-ready and upgraded with the most advanced Jaiytid technology discovered over the past few years. It was a different proposition altogether to what he was used to. He believed in himself though, he knew he could do it and so did everyone else around him.
The Al’cari ship was moments away. The fleet was in position and were awaiting his orders, the admirals in charge of the fleet had handed control over to him and he was ready to engage the Al’cari ship as soon as it appeared. James ordered the Evening Star to the head of the fleet, ready to carry out his part in all of this… the bait.
“You know they’ll come straight for us as soon as they drop out of warp,” Ivanov warned him, “they know we caused them problems before and they know that we have part of the Shadow Bringer. They will be out to settle the score with us.”
“I’m counting on it,” James said as he sat in his chair, staring out into the space before them, waiting for the enemy to reveal itself, “it isn’t just the Al’cari who have a score to settle here, they killed plenty of our people before we entered their space and there are plenty of people in the fleet who will be looking to get even.”
The empty space in front of them was lit up by a flash of light. The Al’cari ship dropped out of warp in front of them, moving fast in the direction of the alliance fleet and the Evening Star. The front section of the ship was showing damage to it’s front starboard section, right where the Evening Star had hit it on their last encounter. It was the same ship as from Sharstrom, likely still hunting them to recover the Shadow Bringer from them. James wasn’t going to let that happen though, this time they had the upper hand.
“Weapons range in thirty seconds,” Ivanov informed him. “Hold steady,” said James, “as soon as it’s in range, open fire and take evasive maneuvers. Once we’re on the move, signal the Vulian fleet to spring the trap and prepare to form the maelstrom formation around the Al’cari vessel.”
Any second now… the Al’cari vessel closed in, it’s weapons powered up and ready to strike as soon as it was in range. It was time to see what the new alliance fleet was made of. It was time to see just what Iyacs was capable of…
